I'm brewing this Saturday and thought I'd better throw the recipe I came up with out to you guys who actually know what you're doing. My brewing experience has yet to catch up with my brewing obsession and brewing reading/self-education.

I say this is Ranger-inspired because I used the same hops and tried to hit around the same ABV, IBUs and estimated color but Im also trying to tweak it to my tastes. I also read on the New Belgium site that they use two kinds of crystal malt, one pale and one dark.

First, heres my specific questions:
1. Too much malt? Is Bonlander totally out of place? Should I use Maris Otter instead for the base malt? I have it on hand too.
2. Does the hops schedule make any sense?
3. Should I boil for 90 min or will it matter with this beer?
4. Is 62F the best temp for this brew using Pacman yeast?

Now, heres what the hell I was thinking:
I want a nice citrusy IPA with a very solid, interesting malt background. I want that nice burst of fresh hoppiness and full mouthfeel you get with the really good IPAs, where its super hoppy but not too bitter or harsh. I love interesting malt but I dont want it to diminish the hops. I want citrus to be forefront with the hops without being one-dimensional. I want it to make me think Mmmm... hop candy.

I put the 120 in because I only have 60 and 120 on hand as far as dark crystal goes and I love Green Flashs Hop Head Red, which uses a ton of 120. I put the Bonlander in because I want that solid malt backbone and its described as super munich which intrigues me, and because I havent tried it yet. But let me know if its totally out of place.

The frequent, small hop additions are (obviously) inspired by Dogfish Heads IPAs. I assume thats how they get that fullness to their hop flavor. (?) I may have gone overboard though and not put enough bittering hops in the beginning. NB says they use 3# of hops in every barrel, which works out to 7.5 oz per 5 gallons, so I tried to stay consistent with that too. For those of you not math inclined, the Simcoe and Cascade work out to 2 oz and 3 oz (respectively) divided up into 5 equal parts that are added 1 every 5 min; @ 20, 15, 10, 5 and flameout.

1. Too much malt? Is Bonlander totally out of place? Should I use Maris Otter instead for the base malt? I have it on hand too.

The grain bill looks fine. I prefer using Marris or sometimes portions of it in IPA's, but some on this board will say it shouldn't be used in an IPA. It's more about your own personal tastes. Check out past NHC Cat.14 winners "recipes".

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2. Does the hops schedule make any sense?

It makes sense. I would opt for a larger dose of hops @5min and 0min. 1oz each minimum. More so @ flame out.

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3. Should I boil for 90 min or will it matter with this beer?

I would do a 90min boil.

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4. Is 62F the best temp for this brew using Pacman yeast?

It will be fine @62F

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Originally Posted by YooperBrew

Oh, and Xiang, it's a good thing Bob is banned, or I'd be really pissed about your signature! :D

Thanks, Xiang! I took your advice and tweaked the hop schedule. I also decided to add 1/2 lb of dextrine malt at the last minute. This is what I ended up brewing. Smelled amazing! This is my first AG batch and my first with temperature control. Its an understatement to say I can't wait to see how it turns out!